Starting third on the grid — par for the course this season — Lewis Hamilton didn’t look a safe bet for his first Grand Prix win in Monte Carlo.

Lewis Hamilton wins Monaco Grand Prix 2008

That he did win is a sign maybe that Madame Fortune is beginning to smile on the British race ace again.

The drivers made their way to the start in light rain. After a single lap it was teeming down, turning the famous circuit into a skid pad. Hamilton started on the second row in third. He easily passed Kimi Raikkonen on the run to St Devote.

Felipe Massa seemingly led with ease in the early stages. Weather forecasters were telling the McLaren team that the rain would lessen throughout the race. Hamilton was filled up with extra fuel and returned to the race.

He slipped into cautious mode waiting for his opponents to make the errors. Fernando Alonso, in fourth, obliged on lap eight, clipping the wall at Mirabeu. On the same lap David Coulthard and Sebastien Bourdais came together on the run-up to Casino Square to bring out the safety car.

From then on, mayhem ruled and the title was anyone’s — anyone’s, that is, who had the wet-weather skills of an Ayton Senna and the speed of Lewis Hamilton.

As his enemies tumbled from grace, Lewis Hamilton regained his lead in the Formula One Drivers’ Championship.

A notable victory — his sixth GP win — and one which sets him up for a great finish to the season. To come through all the bad luck and error-strewn campaigns this season with a win at Monte Carlo is surely an omen.

All he now has to contend with is the ferocious pace of an in-form Felipe Massa in a rock-star Ferrari and he’s home and dry.

Felipe Massa easily beat Lewis Hamilton into second place to win the Turkish Grand Prix today for the third successive year in his Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen, the reigning world champion, was third.

Hamilton appears to have overcome his run of bad luck, even if not quite regaining that magic winning touch. He remains in contention for the title even so.

Result

1. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1min 26:49.451sec (average: 213,809 km/h)

2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) at 3.779sec

3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 4.271

4. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) 21.945

5. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) 38.741

6. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 53.724

7. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 1:04.229

8. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams) 1:11.406

Kimi Raikkonen duly won the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona after an emphatic weekend of driving.

His team-mate Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari made it a one-two.

Lewis Hamilton, out of sorts this season, showed both class and courage to rise from fifth on the grid to third place in a fractious race.

He avoided another clash with arch-rival Fernando Alonso by patiently waiting for him to make a pit-stop in his under-achieving Renault.

Full results are:
1, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 1hr 38min 19.051sec; 2, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1:38:22.251; 3, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 1:38:23.151; 4, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 1:38:24.651; 5, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull Renault) 1:38:54.951; 6, J Button (GB, Honda) 1:39:12.051; 7, K Nakajima (Japan, Williams Toyota) 1:39:17.251; 8, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 1:39:18.451; 9, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 1:39:22.051; 10, G Fisichella (It, Force India Ferrari); 11, T Glock (Ger, Toyota); 12, D Coulthard(GB, Red Bull Renault); 13, T Sato (Japan, Super Aguri Honda) all one lap behind.

Championship positions
Drivers: 1, Raikkonen 29pts; 2, Hamilton 20; 3, Kubica 19; 4, Massa 18; 5, Heidfeld 16; 6, Kovalainen 14; 7, Trulli 9; 8, Webber 8; 9, Rosberg 7; 10, Alonso 6; 11, Nakajima 5; 12, Button 3; 13, Bourdais 2.

Constructors: 1, Ferrari 47pts; 2, BMW Sauber 35; 3, McLaren Mercedes 34; 4, Williams Toyota 12; 5, Toyota 9; 6, Red Bull Renault 8; 7, Renault 6; 8, Honda 3; 9, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari 2.

It’s still all to play for this season, with Hamilton quite capable of overtaking a nine points lead. But McLaren will have to start matching the Ferrari’s current pace and power.

Kimi Raikkonen stole pole position from Fernando Alonso in the final moments of the qualifying session for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona.

On the second row of the grid are Raikkonen’s team-mate Felipe Massa and the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.

Lewis Hamilton is fifth, a far cry from his glory days last season.

McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen is in sixth, while the Red Bull of Mark Webber is in seventh with Jarno Trulli eighth in a Toyota.